March6,2013

Today, the House passed H.R. 933, a bill that represents a missed opportunity to avoid damaging cuts through sequestration. After voting against the bill, Ranking Member Adam Smith made the following statement:

“While this bill does allow the Department of Defense some discretion in implementing the across-the-board spending cuts through sequestration, it is a missed opportunity to remove these cuts all together and address our budget in a balanced way. Additionally, this bill fails to address the impact of sequestration on other important programs such as education, transportation, and scientific research.

“We should be squarely focused on removing cuts through sequestration, not implementing them. Regardless of how the cuts are implemented, they will still be extremely damaging. The deep, indiscriminate cuts threaten jobs, our economy, and our national security. We must repeal sequestration. This spending bill fails to end these devastating cuts and essentially locks them in for the remainder of the fiscal year without giving any department or agency, with the exception of the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs, the ability to manage their budgets given our current budget situation.

“It is my hope that the Senate will be able to pass a balanced approach that removes sequestration and provides our economy with some certainty. Congress has a responsibility to the American people to address our fiscal issues in a balanced and effective way. Over the last ten years, we have dramatically cut taxes and increased spending. This is unsustainable. We need to take steps to address our long-term budget problems, but this bill is the wrong way to achieve that goal.”